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Marvel Comics is reaching out to an unusual demographic for a visual medium: The blind.

They're using the world's most famous blind superhero to do it, Daredevil. Marvel's released an audio edition of Daredevil #1 for free on their website.

The audio edition features writer Mark Waid reading his script, including full comic panel descriptions. Marvel editors play the various characters. It's a great place to start, given the blind character; it's also a comic that's received high marks from both critics and fans. (I'll add my personal endorsement; as a comic book fan, it's one of my favorite comics of the year.)

According to Marvel.com, Senior Editor Steve Wacker came up with the idea. It also plays even for those with sight, providing an audio play version of the new comic.

It's being termed an experiment, but it'll be interesting to see if more major comic books get the audio treatment in the future, both as a service to the blind and another medium to present their superheroes in. It's also an interesting insight into Waid's writing, as you get a chance to hear what he includes in the scripts he provides to artists to finish creating comics he works on.

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Alf LaMont, director of marketing and development at Los Angeles comedy club the Comedy Store, wrote an editorial that ran this morning on comedy site Laughspin looking at how the influence of L.A. comedy clubs has changed. He charts their rise thanks to Johnny Carson and "The Tonight Show" to the decline in an era of Internet democratization.

When was the last time you went to a traditional comedy club? From anecdotal evidence, they seem to not have the same influence they once did. Rather than the Comedy Store being the place everyone talks about, it's more likely to be somewhere like the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater or other smaller venues. As LaMont puts it, "To the casual observer, the difference between the clubs is minimal, while the stellar casts of shows produced at Largo and UCB are cutting-edge and thrilling."

Boom issued a press release positioning the comics as "comic book's first straw poll." Readers can pre-order their favorite candidate's comic by Sept. 29, and the total print runs will be announced when the comics ship in November.

The Republican contenders you can choose: Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and... Sarah Palin? Apparently Boom is pretty confident that Palin will enter the race - or at least that she has enough fans that they'll buy a comic about her whether she runs or not.

Boom adds one caveat: Any comic without 1,500 pre-orders won't be printed. Looking at the polls, I'm betting we won't be getting any Rick Santorum comics, but who knows? Those comics will also include limited edition "Superhero variant" covers. (I'm excited to see what the candidates will look like with capes.)

Black also appeared in the music video for Perry's recent single "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)." They slowed "Friday" down for a brief pairing and shared about a minute-and-a-half of stage time. (I mean, come on, she's still Rebecca Black.) Perry closed the segment by yelling "I love the Internet!"

About the blog: Without A Net

Looking below the radar of pop culture in L.A. and beyond. We bring you what's next, what's trending, what people are talking about and more. Follow lead Without A Net blogger Mike Roe at @MikeRoe on Twitter.